Technology by Gender

Picture: Mike Licht

I am often asked why technology isn't taught at the school where I work and my answer is simple..."we have been a one to one notebook school for 18 years this year and so technology is embedded (or should be) in everything we do. Technology is an enabler for learning and it provides us with some amazing tools for engagement". 

Working in an all girls school, being a nerd myself (& the reaction I get from adults) and also having two teen-aged daughters I know that the majority of girls on the whole just "Aren't that into" technology. This is a whole other question. Many years ago the school offered pure ICT subjects and the last to survive was a subject called World Wide Web which reached it's expiry four years ago when not one student elected it. In an attempt to reignite a passion for it one of my projects was to introduce a subject called "Digital Media & Design" in Year 5. We added it to the curriculum under the auspices of the Art Department, a move that was very strategic. It has been a success and next year will be offered from Year 5-Year 9. 

Whilst this is a great result I feel as though we have had to almost 'trick' the girls into doing the subject, however they do love it and are learning valuable life skills. But why is it that girls are so ambivalent about technology?

I recently came across some fantastic research "Technology Perceptions by Gender" Conelia Brunner & Dorothy Bennett (NASSP Bulletin Feb 1998) We all know females are far more social creatures so it was no surprise that when the researchers asked the study participants to describe their feelings and fantasies about technology and they found preferences:

FEMALES: small, flexible,objects that can be worn or carried easily and that allow women to communicate and connect and to share ideas and stories.
MALES: magic wands/brain implants that allow them to transcend the limitations of time and space. 

"The feminine attitude toward technology looks right through the machine to its social function, while the masculine view is more focused on the machine itself"

http://www.laurelschool.org/about/documents/TechnologyPerceptionsbyGender.pdf

Picture: Mike Licht

Interesting! So we have some clues, and we discovered the answer totally by default. Girls won't pick ICT as a stand alone subject however if we introduce the skills....because they help achieve something else (a means to an end) it will hold value to them!

Word of warning for those of you teaching in co-ed schools this difference really highlights the need for differentiated tasks & assessments.